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Texas on the Potomac regularly publishes guest commentary from across the political spectrum. Today, we offer a guest blog written by Democratic consultant Jason Stanford of Austin. ? As of this writing, we know the fertilizer explosion in West, Texas killed more than a dozen residents and injured 200 others with others still missing. “Your …

Welcome to Texas on the Potomac’s “The Week Ahead,” a preview of events to come on Capitol Hill and at the White House this week. This week’s report was written by William K. Moore of ViaNovo. • • • Congress returns today for its spring session. Guns and immigration are scheduled to be the marquee issues as …

Rep. Rubén Hinojosa, D-Mercedes, led his Democratic colleagues in a rare Capitol Hill walkout to protest Republicans’ plans to unilaterally rewrite the Workforce Investment Act. Democrats said the GOP plan would recklessly eliminate job-training programs without an independent evaluation of their effectiveness and would give governors too much power in determining how to allocate federal job-training …

Saying that both parties dislike the $85 billion in automatic cuts triggered by the sequester, Texas Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee joined three liberal House Democrats today in proposing a bill that would remove the requirements for these cuts. “Sequestration is one of the most irresponsible pieces of legislation of our time,” Jackson Lee, D-Houston, said …

The sequester is finally here. After weeks of debate among Democrats and Republicans, Congress and the White House, the deadline to reach a deal on the across-the-board budget cuts has arrived and prospects of an eleventh hour deal are nonexistent. “So what more do you think I should do?” President Barack Obama asked the White …

They say everything is bigger in Texas and beginning March 1, that includes reductions in military spending. Scheduled Army budget cuts could amount to an economic loss of around $2.4 billion for the Lone Star State, if Congress fails to pass a budget plan before the beginning of March. The cuts will induce furloughs and …

It’s the annual speech that political pundits love to hate. Often derided as an extended “laundry list” of presidential priorities, the State of the Union address has often been a tool for partisan political combat rather than a thoughtful review of the most important policy issues facing the nation. Those complaints have some merit. But …

Texas on the Potomac welcomes guest commentary from across the political spectrum. Today, we share with you a column by Rep. Pete Gallego of Alpine. This commentary first appeared in the print edition of the San Antonio Express-News. Sequestration is a budget measure that would make drastic, across the board cuts on the federal budget. …

If you watched Rick Perry’s 2012 presidential campaign, you know important anti-Washington rhetoric was to the Texas governor. Too much federal spending. Too much federal regulation. Too many unfunded federal mandates. Too much micromanagement from Washington. Too many Cabinet agencies. If you expected to hear an undercurrent of Washington-bashing today in Perry’s remarks to the …

Texas on the Potomac is pleased to share guest commentary from across the political spectrum. Today, we share Ron Paul’s first “Texas Straight Talk” column since leaving Congress last Thursday. Last week the Senate and House demonstrated again why their approval ratings are so low. The 154 page “fiscal cliff” bill was made available to …